Étudiant-chercheur étoile September 2017

Dustin Valen

Published in: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, vol. 75, no 4

Abstract

Dustin Valen's paper addresses a growing interest in architecture's historical relationship to the natural environment. By re-examining the nineteenth century glasshouse as an important site in the development of an environmental mentality, the essay explores British building culture through the lens of popular science and through its interpenetration with other disciplines, including gardening, medicine, and engineering. Dustin Valen argues that the glasshouse played a key role in the emergence of an environmental paradigm in architecture by crossbreeding building practices with scientific knowledge and illustrating how mechanical solutions could be applied to living problems.